Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor, Use of Force Expert and Emergency Preparedness Analyst Leon Spears broke down viral True Crime bodycam videos.
The first bodycam footage showed an officer responding to an incident inside a store where two women allegedly pepper sprayed a person during a fight. As the officers handcuffed the women, the women both aggressively resisted arrest by knocking down the store’s merchandise and attempting to both shove and bite the officers.
Bodycam footage showed one suspect, who was pregnant, pushing the officer as he attempted to arrest her. Spears said the officer should have “immediately cuffed” her, but instead allowed her to get close and resist arrest. (RELATED: POLICE BODYCAM: Woman Who Refuses Mask Arrested)
During the altercation, Spears said an officer used a “level-five use-of-force” by “inappropriately” using a discharge taser. He said the officers should have notified the department for backup rather than succumbing to use-of-force tactics. (RELATED: BODYCAM: Officer Threatens To Tase A Man Over Not Wearing A Mask)
“They should have actually called for backup before this situation got elevated to this position,” Spears explained. (RELATED: Bodycam Shows Daunte Wright Fleeing Arrest, Officer Shouting ‘Taser! Taser! Taser!’ Before Shooting Him With Service Pistol)
One suspect, who had been handcuffed, attempted to bite the officer who detained her by holding her arm. The officer then punched the suspect in the face, which Spears said should have been handled by using “pressure positions or holds” to prevent her from resisting.
“Where in the use of force continuum is striking someone across the face that’s handcuffed? That’s a female that you clearly have now other officers, even gender specific officers, at the scene. So, there’s no reason to strike somebody in the face that’s handcuffed. You could’ve taken advantage of pressure positions, pressure holds to actually make the person compliant,” Spears said. “But striking them in the face, while cuffed, not appropriate at all.”